21st Century Student Leadership

There is not a
single day that goes by without a student engaging on an activity that displays
traits of leadership. Whether it is through an act of kindness, resilience or
teamwork, students are continuously exerting influence over each other and their
surroundings.

Students have
the incredible power to define their learning environments; however, they are
often unaware of this capacity and they don’t understand it within the
framework of student leadership. Furthermore, there are also many adults who
are oblivious to students’ leadership potential.

Too often,
student leadership opportunities at schools are exclusive.

This shouldn’t
come as a surprise, since there are many students who traditionally have not
had access to student leadership programs or traditional student leadership roles
and positions. Unfortunately, this causes a misconception, one that is often
times promoted by students and adults alike, that student leadership belongs to
only a few.

This has to
change, because let’s be honest, what student wouldn’t benefit from learning
about leadership?

Leadership
programs provide students with skills that enhance their academic achievement,
but also prepare them to succeed in various postsecondary settings. Talents
such as creativity, collaboration, communication, empathy, and adaptability are
not just nice to have; they’re the fundamental capabilities of a 21st-century
global economy facing complex challenges. Thus, student leadership is not only
focused on students’ personal growth and success, but also in their development
as critical thinkers and stewards of service and global citizenship.

If you ask me,
this is exactly the kind of education our students need.

Tony Wagner, Innovation Education Fellow at the Technology & Entrepreneurship
Center at Harvard University, has written and spoken extensively about the
importance of revamping education so that it reflects the realities of the 21st
Century. He explains:

“In today’s highly competitive global knowledge economy, all
students need new skills for college, careers, and citizenship. To fail to give
all students these new skills leaves today’s youth-and our country-at an
alarming competitive disadvantage.”

And I agree, but my contention is that these
so-called “new skills” are not new. They are already been taught in many
leadership classes and programs, but these opportunities are not accessible to every
student.

So I repeat my question: what student wouldn’t
benefit from learning about leadership?

The answer is none.

So I firmly believe that in order to transform
education for the 21st Century every teacher will have to be a
leadership teacher. This is already happening, there are many
teachers who do an amazing job at teaching math, history or science
while reinforcing leadership skills, values and habits. But we can do better
and make sure every student gets the opportunity to have a leadership teacher and facilitator.

I was recently asked at a conference on
student leadership about what I thought student leadership should look like in
the 21st Century.

To which I replied the following: My core belief is that
student leadership belongs to everyone and everywhere. This means to every student
and in every classroom, but also in our parks, businesses, organizations, and
many more spaces and places.

Students are not only the leaders of tomorrow, they are the leaders of today. This is particularly true in education and we have to be ready and willing to partner with them to improve and strengthen our schools and communities - this is the student leaders’ journey in the 21st Century.

Student leadership can’t solely be
compartmentalized to one class, summer camp, or program. In addition to these
various activities, we have to envision new strategies to make it inclusive and
adaptive. Most importantly, students have to be involved in leading this
process.

What better student leadership project than
to make leadership available to every student?

For this purpose, I have designed the Inspira Project and during the upcoming fall, I will be working
with various classrooms, schools, universities and organizations to facilitate
this process. I welcome everyone to join me on this journey.